Inventory shrinkage is gonna happen. Your best bet is to implement strategies to be proactive, know where and how losses occur and attack them before the retail loss hits you.

Most companies now perform in house inventory procedures once a year. However, many companies use an outside agency to count their merchandise. This can be a real benefit when it comes to payroll issues. However, this can also be a large factor in a poor inventory count leading to large numbers of inventory shrinkage .

Companies I have worked for, for the most part, have stayed on top of these inventory services and most of the time the service is outstanding. In one instance, had myself and two other managers not been present during the count, the inventory shrinkage numbers would have certainly come out much worse than what was already expected to be a poor number. Working to provide inventory loss prevention , myself and the other managers walked the salesfloor, auditing various counters and sections. During a particular review, a manager found the counter making mistakes on almost every count sheet they posted. We decided to watch this counter closer. Inventory loss prevention was obviously not of their concern. We recounted a section of high dollar merchandise where we found the counter missed over $500 in merchandise.

Understanding retail shrinkage and how these issues can arise, we decided to “sit the counter down”. We talked with him and almost immediately we could tell he wasn’t quite in the state necessary to work, infact he was almost obviously drunk or on some sort of drug. Now, I know I don’t have to say it, but we immediately sent him off the property, not allowing him to drive himself home. We then had the crew manager, take two of his best counters are recount each of the areas this guy did.

Inventory shrinkage and retail loss can occur everywhere, are you ready for it?